Index Ethical Dimension Legal Dimension Financial Dimension Conclusion Works Cited Ethical Dimension Due to the lack of state and government funding in higher education, universities in the United States naturally increase tuition to compensate for the decline in financial support. However, rising tuition puts many students in a difficult position, in which they must choose between taking out a student loan to afford a college degree or struggling to find a job without one, since “by 2020, 65% of [jobs] will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school,” in contrast to only “36% of [jobs] that will not require education beyond high school” (Carnevale et al., 2013). A college degree not only increases the likelihood of finding a job, but also an employee's short- and long-term earning potential. Graduates who have earned a bachelor's degree typically “earn 66 percent more than those with only a high school diploma” and “over a lifetime. . . [they] will earn approximately $1 million more than” an individual who did not attend college (“Affability and College Completion”). With these benefits of having a college education in mind, students enroll in colleges in hopes of improving their socioeconomic status, even though they would have to rely on student loans to pay their tuition. The U.S. government can play an important role in addressing the issue of student loan debt, but it has chosen to prioritize the military budget without considering the harmful long-term effects of students taking on student loan debt to afford a university education. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay For most young people, a college degree is the means to landing their dream job. Unfortunately, it is difficult to earn a college degree due to high costs, which is why nearly half of students who start college in this country [do] not finish within six years” (“College Affordability and Completion”). Students who take out loans and drop out due to financial problems will continue to have debt, but now with the added difficulty of finding a high-paying job without a four-year degree. The common range that students borrow is $20,000 to $40,000, which the U.S. Department of Education says would typically take 20 years to repay; the minimum debt range of $0 to $7,500 would take 10 years to repay and debt of $60,000 or more would take 30 years (“The Standard Repayment Plan”). As a result, some students who graduate also acquire debt that they will carry with them for at least a decade, which impacts their ability to purchase a home, as they cannot afford it with high interest rates. Student loans have left many behind for the future and put their plans on hold. With affordable tuition, getting a college degree would not just be limited to people from higher income families, more people will become more educated and the country will prosper. Because it typically takes 20 years for the average borrower to pay off their student loans, many students have to put their lives on hold to pay off their debt. According to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, many students' major life goals, “such as buying a car, owning a house,getting married” are often postponed due to student debt (“Student Debt Burden”, 2006). Student loans may have helped students pay for college tuition in the short term, but they represent a long-term financial burden for many graduates. In a Forbes article, former student Sean Vaillancourt shares his personal experience of “waiting to have kids and buy a house because our combined student debt is more than a mortgage on a house” (Hembree, 2018). Increasing public funding for colleges and universities could reduce the pressure on students to delay significant life milestones due to debt, as well as lower the cost of college, tuition and greater access to higher education. Another consequence of students taking on debt is that they have to forgo riskier career choices that could have brought greater satisfaction and greater potential for long-term career advancement. Instead, individuals may choose to join a “more stable company instead of [a] startup with more growth opportunities” to ensure they can repay their student loans (Caldwell). Additionally, student loan payments also make it more difficult for graduates to change careers. Borrowers may be forced to ignore opportunities that involve relocation due to financial concerns, as there may be moving expenses involved or lost wages between job changes. Young adults should be able to take these risks in life that would help them gain more experience and pursue a career they truly enjoy. For students bearing the burden of large student loan payments, increasing public funding to make college tuition more affordable can help these students acquire a higher education and give them more freedom to take risks to get college jobs. their dreams. The most significant factor that some students must consider when deciding whether to attend college is that when they leave a higher education institution, they will be accompanied by a large student loan. Unlike any other type of loan, a federal loan will never disappear. Colleges and universities are financially supported by the federal and state governments, whose contributions have the greatest effect on the price of tuition. To illustrate, “[the] New England Policy Center evaluated state budget cuts in the New England region and found that when other factors are held constant, every dollar of reduced state funding led to a 17-cent increase in taxes school and public taxes. four-year institutions. The effect is even greater for community colleges that rely more heavily on state funding: According to the study, for every dollar lost in state funding, community colleges cut institutional expenses by 56 cents” (Zhao, 2019, cited in Mendelson, 2020). Although this study was conducted in the New England region, the findings show a correlation between government cuts to higher education funding and tuition increases, a trend that has become more prevalent across the country. The effects of decreased funding on colleges and universities include increased prices for education and fewer students wanting to seek higher education. To combat this problem, the government must invest in higher education to make U.S. public colleges and universities affordable and world-class. As tuition rises across the nation, financial aid falls shortto cover school fees and other university expenses as happened in the past. It is essential that the government reallocates the national budget to make university accessible and affordable once again. In the United States, before the federal or state government carries out a legal reorganization of its budget, a formal procedure must take place in which the president proposes a new budget plan for the next year that must be approved by Congress. This is also known as budget resolution; Once this stage of the process is completed, the budget plan will become part of the official budget and will be ready for implementation next year. Financial dimension Tuition has risen faster than inflation, forcing students to spend double the amount of their income to afford a college education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, “today's prices in 2020 are 329.50% higher than prices since 1977” (“Inflation Rate”). The underlying cause of why students are receiving excessive fees is that state and government funding to universities has decreased significantly. In “1980, states provided 46 percent of operating support to public colleges and universities. By 2005, that percentage had fallen to 27 percent” (Facts about Higher Education Financing). Now that states and government provide only about a quarter of the funding, students are expected to make up for this with their tuition prices. Colleges are funded by multiple sources, such as tuition, grants, state, and endowments, so the issue is not how they receive their budget. On the other hand, students are faced with two big problems: costs increase and they are forced to pay more. One plausible solution to the problem of colleges overcharging students would be to have the state and federal governments invest more in college education, which would reduce tuition prices for students. With the responsibility of financially supporting college transferred to students, some students struggle to pay college tuition without the help of student loans. However, relying on student loans to afford a college education creates the problem of student loan debt, which has affected numerous students' major life choices after college. In fact, “44.7 million” Americans have student loan debt, making it “the second largest chunk of household debt [of $1.68 trillion in 2020] after mortgages, [larger] than of credit cards” (Bustamante, 2020; Looney et al. ., 2020). Data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances compared the percentage of households with outstanding student loans over the years, finding that in 2016, “40 percent owed more than $25,000 and 21 percent owed more than $50,000,” which is higher than in 2007, before the Great Patriotic War. Recession, when “32% of borrowers had more than $25,000 in debt, and only 13% of borrowers had more than $50,000 in debt” (Frost, 2019). If the current situation is not addressed, these numbers will continue to grow on an upward trend. Each year, the federal government has an annual budget to spend on national expenses. According to The Federal Budget and Economy, “federal spending totaled $4.4 trillion in 2019,” and 30% of that budget was discretionary spending. Categories that fall under discretionary spending would be military spending, education, public transportation, income security, healthcare, and others. Of the 30%, or $132 billion, 50.6% is used for..